Seas are increasingly turbulent due to joint exercises. The Philippines, Japan, the United States and Australia have planned naval and air exercises today, Sunday, April 7, in response to China's increasing resolve in the South China Sea (an area over which Beijing has less than questionable claims). Trying to increase deterrence against Beijing is the common goal of Tokyo and Manila, which also appear very close to concluding a deal to ensure greater security. The “Reciprocal Access Agreement” is the wording used to define the agreement that will allow the militaries of the two countries to train and conduct exercises in their respective territories.
Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines' ambassador to the United States, spoke of a periodic deployment of troops. He explained: “This is something we have discussed in the past and we will continue to consider it again as part of our cooperation between our two countries.” When can this decision be reached? According to what Romualdez reported, after the tripartite summit between Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which will be held on April 12 in Washington. As stated in an article published by the Financial Times, the Assistant Press Secretary of the Japanese Ministry stressed that “the implementation of this agreement will improve the interoperability of forces (between the two countries), but it is not true that we are discussing the deployment of forces.” Self-Defense Forces of the Philippines.
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